Hurricane Irma went relatively easy on us, but did uproot one plum tree. It’s lying on its side, with broken roots sticking up from the ground. How should I replant it? What material should I use to support the tree without damaging the bark? Should I prune the top back to balance the loss of roots? I don’t want to trigger more top growth by pruning it.
First, make sure it just blew over and didn’t crack or anything. A big crack might indicate a weakness in the tree at that point, which might indicate long term that the tree won’t make it. Such as cracking around the graft union. (Or the crack might be entirely due to physical force, but it may be in a spot that compromises the tree.)
Observe the roots. Do they look healthy? Or does it look like there’s rot? Or are they circling or girdled somehow? (“bad” roots will lead a tree to fall over more readily, and though a tree can come back from these issues, if its severe, I might just rather start over.)
If everything still looks good, I think it’s a go for replanting!
No special instructions except for what you do when planting any tree. Root prune if you must to cut off damage, but do as little as possible.
As far as top pruning…eh, I don’t know. I can’t find a definitive answer. Me personally I probably wouldn’t because I’d be afraid it would stimulate it to try to grow in the fall when it’s trying to go dormant, as well as adding another stressor to the tree. I would go ahead and prune off anything that is dead though.
And then when it’s planted, just make sure it’s well but not over watered. Maybe some compost on top, but not fertilizers.
And then…let it go! The fall/winter dormant period allows it time to regroup, maybe grow some new roots. You should see in the spring by how it leafs out (or not) if the tree will make it.
As far as staking the tree, you just want something that isn’t sharp (won’t cut into the tree) and distributes the force of the support over a wide enough area that you won’t girdle it at that point. For example, some professional arborists use wire attached to stakes, but then use a wide, padded cloth over the areas where the wire would otherwise touch the tree.
I’m not a professional, obviously, but this is what I would do based on my experience and my reading. If this tree is important to you, I’d see if I could get an arborist to come out to do the work and personalize it for your tree and situation.
Good luck! Hope your tree bounces back!
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Time ago, when hurricane Irene came to our yard, my young (2-3 yeas old) peach tree was half uprooted and laid on its side while we were away to visit my son in Canada. I was going to dig it out, but was so upset that asked my husband to do it, when I leave to work and do not see it. I came home to see the peach tree in the same spot upright. He just hammered steel pipe between the roots that were uprooted and pulled the tree back and spread the soil. He then just tied tree with a rope to the pipe. I changed it by placing protective paper under the rope. The tree is now giving us huge amount of peaches!
P.S. Now I learned, that using old bicycle tube for tying the trees works great!
Good luck!
P.P.S My husband is NOT a fruit tree grower. Actually, he is not a grower at all!
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What galinas said.
And I think I would prune the tree next summer when I saw what it was doing.
Good luck- I think this will work for you.
Thanks all! My local bike shop is saving old bike tubes for me, so I should be able to pick up a bunch and try to right the tree this weekend.
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